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LGBT Night March decries Pride’s corporate sponsorship

Grassroots activists want to see a return to Pride Toronto’s political roots with less emphasis on corporate sponsors.

Morgan Madonik, left, and Jazmin Walters sing and dance after the annual Night March took over the intersection of Yonge and Dundas late Monday evening. (Andrew Lahodynskyj / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Kelsy Vivash keeps the rhythm of the fifth annual Night March going. The march is held every year at night because that is when many members of the community have been harassed or assaulted. (Andrew Lahodynskyj / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

Alex Herd proudly waves a flag during the fifth annual Night March, which this year protested what some participants described as the commercialization of Pride at the expense of celebrating its political roots.
(Andrew Lahodynskyj / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

By Jessica Botelho-UrbanskiStaff Reporter

Tues., June 28, 2016

Members and allies of the LGBT community irked by Pride Toronto’s corporate sponsorships rallied this week for a separate march of their own.

“I feel like I’m in an ad (at the Toronto Pride parade),” Kat Dearham said before setting off on the fifth annual Night March on Monday at Church St. and Alexander St.

The walk was coordinated by volunteers from grassroots organizations such as Queer Ontario and 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations.

About 150 people chanted in unison, with mottos like “Let’s get critical, Pride is political!” They stopped at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas St., blocking traffic for a collective “moment of rage,” as coined by an organizer bellowing from a megaphone.

Eight to 10 police officers on bicycles helped them secure the area for about 10 minutes, as dozens of passersby encroached on the large circle to see what was happening.

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The megaphone was passed around so anyone could take a turn to describe why they felt Pride ought to be politicized.

Rejh Lorenzo Cabrera, while leaving work at the Eaton Centre, happened upon the march and decided to spontaneously take the mic.

“My pride is political because as an androgynous being, I’m tired of being asked if I’m a boy or a girl,” Cabrera said, to loud cheers and applause from the circle. “Gender norms are a figment of our imagination.”

There were many vocal critiques of Pride Toronto, chief among them the corporate overtone the organization’s events have taken on in recent years.

Pride Toronto said it doesn’t have a “specific checklist” of criteria for how sponsors are chosen, nor a limit on the number.

Aaron Glyn Williams, co-chair for Pride Toronto’s board of directors, said the organization aims for long-time partners such as TD Bank, which has stuck around for 12 years, rather than one-time sponsors.

He added the corporate sponsorship agreements “do not come with strings or approvals attached,” in terms of dictating Pride Month programming.

GlynnWilliams said that the bigger the festival becomes, the better chance it has of giving a strong platform to a wide variety of marginalized voices.

“While we are extremely grateful and fortunate to have the support of some of the world’s biggest brands, we make sure to do that in a way that doesn’t make it a festival of that brand, but really makes sure that it’s kept a festival of the community,” he said. “There’s not one year where we don’t have this discussion, where I’m not speaking to a reporter with these types of questions, and I think it’s important. It shows we’ve got a really engaged community that’s always keeping us honest.”

The Night March participants admonished Pride for corporate overtones that they said draw focus away from the political roots of Pride marches, the first of which took place in New York City in 1969, after the Stonewall riots.

The first Toronto Pride parade happened in 1981 as a direct response to the bathhouse raids, when Toronto police, armed with crowbars and sledgehammers, disrupted four bathhouses in the city.

At the Night March, Laura Hartley, who works with the feminist collective Grrrrl Justice, criticized the statement of regret.

“Recent events by the Toronto Police Service, their apology, need to be reminders that queer experiences can’t be co-opted or pink-washed for political or economic gain,” she said.

Mel Dokis, another participant and the coordinator of volunteer services and development at 2-Spirited People of the 1st Nations, said sponsorship of Pride is diluting the event’s inherent politics.

“We’re not even about what Pride was about in the beginning when everybody first got a brick thrown at them, or when the cops first came and busted [LGBT people] about anything,” Dokis said, referring to the Stonewall riots.

“It’s just about, ‘Oh, Trojan condoms! You’re only allowed to give out Trojan condoms!’ or ‘Coors Light is supporting this!’ For aboriginal people especially, that’s a hard thing because a lot of our people are prone to alcoholism or triggering for addictions. So [Pride is] a difficult time, and we want them to not have to have that difficult time.”

Pride Toronto has at least two areas designated alcohol and drug-free: the Clean, Sober and Proud space at Paul Kane Parkette, and the TD Village Stage.

Dokis said he was worried about the Two-Spirit rainbow powwow, a dance party planned for Friday night at the TD Village Stage, because the event seems to “misconstrue the lines of what a powwow actually is.”

“A powwow is a cultural celebration of events, and to be standing on the street in the middle of the night when there’s drunken people — that’s not a powwow,” Dokis said. “They’ve turned it into something that is commercialized and it doesn’t represent native people.”

In an emailed statement, Pride Toronto said the event was “inspired by the idea of an electric powwow” and “programmed by a Two-Spirit artist.” It also mentioned that alcohol won’t be served, as it’s considered a family event.

Dokis said he wished the organization he works for had been consulted about the powwow, as he’s fielding many questions about it from the indigenous community.

“I love Pride Toronto’s work and what they stand for, but at the same time there’s so much work to be done. And you can’t do it without asking the aboriginal community,” he said. “We’re not being heard again, and that’s basically what it comes down to.”

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